Study in Venice and Earn FAU Credits

Students in Venice Student in Venice

Why Venice Study Abroad?

The study abroad leaders are two native Venetians: Dr. Ilaria Serra and Dr. Emanuele Pettener. They still have many ties with their hometown and are glad to share their knowledge of the city with the students.

In alternate years, the Program is co-led by a professor from the College of Business, the College of Science, or the School of Architecture which takes advantage of the Architecture Biennale exposition in Venice. This makes our program interdisciplinary and attractive for a varied student population.

Venice is a unique city. Its silence, its colors, its water reflections make it a place that does not belong to the logic of this world and that struggles to keep its fragile identity. Students not only live the city, but are invited to understand it and engage with its inhabitants.

Our program enjoys a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Venice. Our classes promote active and experiential learning through visits to the city landmarks and participation to many activities such as baking buranei in Burano to crafting traditional masks, from visiting artistic glass factories and wineries to attending opera performances. Lessons are enriched with guest lectures by Venetian artists, actors, writers (even in their own homes), filmmakers and film critics (with classes held at La Fabbrica del Vedere).

Our classes offer students the possibility to earn Academic Service Learning credits because we participate in the life of the city by helping local organizations and visiting socially meaningful sites. Our contribution is appreciated and every year we are featured in the local news (see summer 2026 video on Antenna Tre TV and Telepadova).

Two Fridays are reserved for organized group excursions. One changes every year: a trip to the Lake Garda and its overlooking mountains, or to the Venetian Villas along the Brenta Canal on the ancient boat “Il Burchiello”, or to Verona with its Roman arena or to Padova or Treviso or Trieste... A staple of our trip - that will never change because our students say it is the best day of their lives - is the excursion to the Dolomiti mountains, including Cortina, Lagazuoi, Lago di Misurina, and a panoramic walk at a high altitude (2700 meters above sea level), where lunch is provided in a mountain refuge.

Numerous other activities are organized for all participants, including guided tours of St. Mark’s Cathedral, the Ducal Palace, the Jewish Ghetto, bike tours of the Venetian lagoon, the islands of Torcello, Burano, and Murano, the Lazzaretto Island, the Lido, plus theater shows, concerts, group dinners, mask-making, traditional cookie-baking, meeting with the authorities, and much more. Whatever the city offers that summer: we follow the winds of Fortune (the windwane on the background in the picture below).

Students in Venice We want you to come with us!